Cut down sugar intake, public urged

Star PETALING JAYA: Malaysians need to cut down on their sugar intake as it would not only be beneficial to their health, but also save on the Government's spending on subsidies.
Last year, the Government spent RM262.41mil in subsidies and it would be spending RM567mil this year due to the increased price of the commodity, the Domestic Trade, Cooperative and Consumer-ism Ministry said.
“If we can reduce our intake of sugar, the money spent on this subsidy could be extended to subsidise other commodities,” said its minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob yesterday.
It was announced on Friday that the Government had increased the sugar subsidy from 20 sen per kilo to 54 sen per kilo earlier this month to avoid having the rakyat pay more due to the increasing global price of the commodity.
Ismail was reported as saying that the price of sugar would remain at RM2.30 per kilo while current open market price for sugar is RM2.84 per kilo.
Malaysia is the eighth highest sugar consumer in the world and the fourth highest in Asia.
The Health Ministry recently revealed that Malaysians consume excess sugar, adding an average of seven teaspoons of sugar to their drinks daily.
This does not include the hidden sugar contained in other food and beverage consumed each day.
According to Health director-general Datuk Seri Dr Hasan Abdul Rahman, consumers should not add more than two teaspoons of sugar into their tea or coffee each day.
“Most of our food is sweet enough on its own, but it has become a habit among many Malaysians to add more sugar to it,” he said, adding that the practice contributed to obesity and high blood sugar.